Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
—1 Samuel 2:1-10

~~~~~

First to Say, First to See
By Jennifer Kane

Before kings,
before crosses,
before the whisper of angels in Nazareth,
there was a mother—
Hannah—
barren, weeping,
poured out like oil at the temple steps.
And in her pain,
God planted a prophecy.
Not just for Samuel.
But for a King.
One who shatters the bows of the mighty
and raises up the humble from the dust.
She saw Him
before He came.
She sang of Him
before Mary’s lullaby.

And when the fullness of time arrived,
it was a woman who first carried the Christ.
Not just in womb,
but in wonder.
She pondered heaven in her arms.
God with us,
nursed in the quiet
of a Galilean home.

In the temple courts,
Anna was waiting—
wrinkled with worship,
eyes wide with longing.
She saw the child.
She saw the promise.
And she spoke.
The first to name His mission
to anyone who would listen.

Then, later—
when the world had broken Him
and buried Him—
it was a woman
again
who rose before dawn
to honor the dead.
But she found the Living.

Mary,
called Magdalene,
out of whom He cast seven demons,
was the first
to see the garden bloom
with resurrection.

She was the first apostle
to the apostles.

This is the thread—
from Hannah’s trembling voice
to the empty tomb—
God choosing women
not as footnotes,
but as firsts.
First to believe,
first to speak,
first to carry light into the dark.

And Christ—
who let no soul go unseen—
still anoints
with that same tender power
those who watch,
who wait,
and who weep
until the dawn.

~~~~~

Scriptures: 1 Samuel 2:1-10, Luke 2:36-38, John 20:11-18

Hannah’s prayer is more than a song of thanksgiving—it is a profound proclamation of God’s power, holiness, justice, and future redemption. Spoken by a once-barren woman who gave up her only son in worship, these words pour from a heart both broken and lifted high by the Lord.

In her joy, Hannah exalts God—not her circumstances. She rejoices not in the return of something lost, but in the Lord Himself, who sees the lowly, hears the cries of the barren, and overturns the systems of human pride. “My heart rejoices in the LORD… I smile at my enemies,” she says, not out of smugness, but out of a deep, Spirit-led awareness that the scales are in God’s hands and He alone makes things right.

Hannah’s words become even more powerful when we realize that this is the first explicit mention of the Messiah in the Bible. When she says, “He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed,” the Hebrew word anointed is Messiah. Before Israel had a king, before David was anointed, before the prophets would proclaim the coming Christ—Hannah saw it. A mother, offering her son, speaks of a greater Son yet to come.

Her prophetic voice echoes through history, echoed again by Mary the mother of Jesus in Luke 1:46-55. Two women, generations apart, both rejoice in God’s reversal of the world’s order and both speak of the coming King who would bring salvation to the humble and judgment to the proud.

Hannah’s prayer reminds us that God sees the unseen, hears the unheard, and exalts the humble. And in the quiet places of pain and prayer, He reveals glimpses of His greater plan.

Like Hannah, will you trust God’s plan—even when it costs you something precious? Will you rejoice in the LORD when you don’t understand the “why,” but you know the Who? Take a moment today to pray like Hannah: praise God for His justice, His sovereignty, and the Messiah who came—and is coming again.

~~~~~

Father God, You are my strength and my salvation. In every high and low, I trust in You. You lift the humble and bring justice to the proud. Thank You for the gift of Jesus—the true Anointed One. Help me live with Hannah’s faith, rejoicing in You always. In your name I pray, Jesus, amen.

May 15 2025